Asian heritage sites get UNESCO recognition

07/03/2012

Cultural and environmental sites in Malaysia, China and India have been added to the UNESCO World Heritage list. In the latest meeting of the cultural protection body, Malaysia's Lenggon Valley, China's Xanadu and Chengjiang Fossil Site and India's Western Ghats were all inscribed on the list. In Malaysia, the Lenggon Valley is home to four archaeologicalsites spanning two million year of civilisation, while the Chengjiang Fossil Site in southern China's Yunnan province includes fossils from an estimated 196 species dating back 530 million years. The site of Xanadu, in Inner Mongolia, encompasses the remains of Kublai Khan’s legendary capital city and features temples, palaces, tombs, nomadic encampments and canals. Finally Western Ghats mountain chain in western India is older than the Himalayas and contains at least 325 globally-threatened species of flora and fauna.